The National Pork Board has named James “Jamie” Burr as its first chief sustainability officer.
Beginning March 27, Burr leads the sustainability team of five public health, animal welfare and environmental experts tasked with advancing the pork industry’s sustainability goals and metrics.
“Jamie’s input has been invaluable to several key producer-funded initiatives for more than a decade,” said Bill Even, National Pork Board CEO.
“He’s served on and chaired several Pork Board environmental and sustainability committees and task forces, so his leadership has already helped shape the industry’s sustainability vision. Establishing a CSO position and adding Jamie to the team continues to demonstrate our industry’s strong commitment to advancing pork sustainability.”
With more than 20 years of experience in sustainability and environmental program leadership, Burr comes to the Pork Board from Tyson Foods, where he recently served as director of environmental compliance and was the environmental lead for all of Tyson’s live-animal production businesses.
Prior to that role, he led several environmental, safety, health and sustainability teams since joining the company in 1999. Notably, he led the development of Tyson’s greenhouse gas science-based target, its deforestation and land-stewardship targets.
“It’s an honor for me to lead this team and take on the responsibility of shaping and sharing the industry’s sustainability story,” Burr said. “We have bold goals and metrics that producers have laid out for us, and I look forward to working with the staff and the board to meet and report on those efforts.”
Burr’s previous experience puts him in a position to be an advocate to pork producers and for the industry, Even noted.
“The CSO role serves as a conduit between producers, supply chain partners, Wall Street investors and consumers,” Even said.
“Jamie knows and has worked with all these audiences. He understands the business, he understands the consumer, and knows the importance of building relationships among all stakeholders along the supply chain.”
The National Pork Board has responsibility for Pork Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. The Pork Checkoff funds national and state programs in consumer education and marketing, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, science and technology, swine health, pork safety, environmental management and sustainability.
For information on Checkoff funded programs, visit porkcheckoff.org.
